Articles About Recession

Container trade is entering rough waters, despite the strength of global supply chains and China’s status as the world’s factory.  According to AXS Alphaliner, a container shipping information service, 15 percent of shipping capacity will be idle by October — thanks primarily to the recession. Shipping companies that link Asian workshops with American retailers are […]

Finally, there’s encouraging news on the economic front.  The economy declined just one percent during the second quarter of 2009, a rosier report than was expected.  It is the strongest signal so far that the longest recession since the end of World War II is easing its grip. In a report issued by the Department […]

One European nation has escaped the worldwide financial meltdown and recession.  It’s Norway, which saved its money – rather than spent – through the boom years. As a result of frugal financial management, Norwegian housing prices and consumption are on the upswing and interest rates are affordable.  Norway’s fiscal responsibility of its income from enormous […]

In his semi-annual testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that although the economy is exhibiting “tentative signs of stabilization,” he plans to maintain a “highly accommodative” monetary policy for the time being.  According to Bernanke, “The pace of decline appears to have slowed significantly.  In light of the […]

Over the past decade, California’s Inland Empire has been transformed from a little-known region with affordable housing and lots of inexpensive land into an industrial hub – thanks to its proximity to the busy Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.  With the City of Ontario embarking on The Ontario Plan, city fathers are laying […]

In another sign that recessions are good for low-cost leaders, Sears posted a $26 million profit – or 21 cents per share — in the first quarter of 2009.  Based on that news, shares rose $5.21, or 10.38 percent, to close at $55.40 on the Friday before Memorial Day.  These numbers represent a significant improvement […]

The best way to survive a recession is to have a strategic plan firmly in place when the inevitable downturn happens.  That’s the opinion of Larry Armstrong, President of Ware Malcomb, an Irvine, CA-based international architectural firm with ongoing projects in the United States, Latin America, Asia and Europe. In a recent interview for the […]

Hollywood’s Blockbuster Year “Hooray for Hollywood”, said the 1937 lyric by Johnny Mercer, sung during the depths of the Great Depression.  It appears the one industry that’s recession proof has done it again.  While the world’s economy has gone into free fall, Hollywood is in a state of euphoria right now, buoyed by a box-office […]

Toxic commercial real estate loans could create losses up to $100 billion for small and mid-size banks by the end of 2010 if the economy worsens.  According to a Wall Street Journal report – which applied the same criteria used by the federal government in its stress tests of 19 big banks — these institutions […]

Apple may be the Great American Company — the heir to the spirit of Henry Ford who revolutionized corporations worldwide by modernizing the assembly line to facilitate production of his legendary Model T car.  Similarly, Apple under Steve Jobs’ leadership expresses everything that Americans naturally do well — innovation, high quality, smart growth, and nimbleness. […]